they relate to this world only, and are but faint shadows of the blessings which God will pour out upon their souls. As for the glory prepared for them in a better world, what tongue can utter it ? what heart can conceive it ? The very throne of God is not too exalted for them to sit on ; nor the kingdom of God too rich for them to possess.
Now then to all who comply with the invitation given them, we do not hesitate to say, as Moses did, " It shall be, if thou go with us, yea, it shall be, that what goodness the Lord shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thees." You shall par- take of every blessing which God's most favoured people enjoy. Does he go before them in the pillar and the cloud ? Does he feed them with manna, and cause the waters from the rock to follow them in all their way ? Does he protect them from every enemy ? Does he carry them as on eagles' wings ? Does he forgive their sins, and " heal their backslidings, and love them freely ?" Is " he as the dew to them," causing them to " grow as the lily, and to spread forth their roots as Lebanon? " Does "he love them to the end," and " never leave them till he has fulfilled to them all that he has promised?" All this shall be yours, if you will come with us. " You shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." You may exhaust all the powers of language in asking, and it shall all be done : you may even stretch your imagination to the utmost bounds that human intellect can reach, and all that also shall be done, and more than all, yea, " exceeding abundantly above all that ye can either ask or think." And shall not this induce you to accept the invitation ? Go to all others that solicit your company, and see what they can do for you : can they ensure to you even the least of all the blessings of grace or glory ? No : they are all broken cisterns, that can hold no water, and can present to you nothing but the dregs of sensual enjoyment ; whereas with us is " the fountain of living water," of which whosoever drinks shall live for ever.]
2. What benefit you will confer on others —
[Every one that gives himself up wholly to the Lord, strengthens the hands and encourages the hearts of God's chosen people. Death is from time to time thinning the ranks of the Lord's armies : and if they were not recruited by voluntary en- listment, they would speedily disappear. But all who accept the invitation become soldiers of Christ, and engage to fight man- fully the Lord's battles. All such persons also are " witnesses for God" amongst an atheistical and rebellious people, whom they practically " condemn," as " Noah condemned the world" by constructing the ark in the midst of them*. As lights too
s ver. 32. t Heb. xi. 7.